In this fascinating interview, Shakti explains how her pioneering book in the self-help/self-actualization movement played a crucial role in the birth of New World Library. She also shares her thoughts about what it means to grow older, tips on following our intuitive guidance, and suggestions on how we all can discover our unique higher purpose in life.

Spiritual trailblazer Huston Smith, who passed away on Friday, December 30, 2016 at age 97, was a preeminent teacher of world religions.

He wrote comprehensive books about religion and memoirs of his own life, but nowhere did he merge the two elements of seeking and experience with such storytelling flair as he did in And Live Rejoicing, a book that New World Library is proud to have published.

We hope you’ll enjoy this excerpt from the book, in which Huston discusses Native Americans and indigenous cultures. May he rest in peace.

Bradley, a mental strength coach, explains what it means to be “on the verge”: to show up in this exact moment and meet our potential to shine in all aspects of our lives. She also offers practical tips, strategies, and practices that are designed to help us live from that place on a daily basis. We hope you’ll enjoy this inspiring interview and find out how you too can experience what Bradley calls “high-definition, high-voltage living” on purpose, every day.

I can’t stand it anymore! Too many amazingly talented women whose gifts the world desperately needs are stuck in a debilitating cycle of self-doubt, quitting, then looking for a magic solution. It’s keeping too many of us from getting what we most want. It’s blocking us from creating the impact, satisfaction, and happiness that we crave — and the world so needs!

It drives me batty. Batty!

And I understand this cycle and know it all too well. I wasted too many years and too much money doubting myself and looking for someone to tell me what to do.

Both hope and fear are hollow companions.
Each will trigger anxious thoughts.
If hope and fear drive us,
our actions will be built on unstable ground.
We will always second-guess our moves,
looking over our shoulder, fearful
even of our friends,
squabbling among ourselves,
blaming and praising in a futile attempt
to control people and events.